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While Microsoft makes it easy to use its OneDrive cloud service with Microsoft Office, you're not limited to that pairing — you can also integrate Google Drive with Microsoft Office. Not only does that allow you to use Google's online storage for your Office documents, but it improves collaboration as well. You can open Office documents in Google Docs, for example, where multiple people can edit files simultaneously. Here's everything you need to know about integrating Google Drive with Office.
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If you install Google Drive for desktop in Windows, you will be able to directly access your Google Drive online storage location within Microsoft Office apps. That means you can open and save files from Office directly to Google's cloud.
Any changes you make to your Office documents will be immediately available to anyone else sharing the files, and if other people make changes to the files — even in Google Docs — they'll be available to you in Office as well.
To get started, download and install Google Drive for desktop. When requested, log into your Google account.
After installing the app and logging in, you will find a new drive in Windows Explorer which corresponds to your online Google Drive. You can work with these files in the usual way on your desktop, or open them in Microsoft Office.
If you have Office documents stored locally on your computer, you can upload them to Google Drive for storage and online editing. There are a few ways to do this:
You can open any Office document in Google Drive. Open a Word file in Google Docs, for example, and Google will automatically import the file, usually retaining all formatting. When you do this, multiple people can open and edit Office documents in Google Drive simultaneously, as if it were an ordinary Google Doc.
Moreover, if you later open that document in Office, it will retain all the edits and comments that were added in Google Drive.
If you prefer to convert the file to a Google Doc permanently (in case you no longer use Microsoft Office), open the file in a Google Drive app and then click "File." In the File menu dropdown, choose "Save As Google Docs" (or Google Sheets or Google Slides, depending upon which app you are using).
If you are collaborating with someone who only uses Office, you can share a Google Doc with that person in Office format.
Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.
